


Hiding in Plain Sight

by HeroSavesPeople



Category: The Flash (TV 2014), westallen
Genre: F/M, Kiss Prompt Request, Kissing to hide from bad guys, Love, Romance, Smitten Barry, What else is new?, prompt request, take-charge Iris
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-08-19 14:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20211439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeroSavesPeople/pseuds/HeroSavesPeople
Summary: When Barry and Iris are running to hide from their adversary, they must think of a creative way to hide in plain sight.





	1. Chapter 1

Barry Allen was a simple man. At twenty-eight, he was perfectly content with his job as a tenured professor at a reputable university and head of the analytical chemistry department. He lived in a cozy, one-bedroom apartment that was covered in ceiling-to-floor bookshelves and a quaint fireplace. There wasn’t a whole lot he needed in his life.

And then she came along. Iris West. Like a small ball of fire, she sought him out in the middle of a lecture demanding to know everything about his latest study.

He was bewildered by this small young woman, who was several inches shorter, even in her heels, and yet spoke to him in such a way that made him yield to her gaze and demands.

He had never envisioned to become so embroiled in those fiery, yet soft, chocolate eyes. And certainly didn’t envision acquiring the enemies she created in her hunt to avenge her brother’s death.

But he would do it all over again for her in a heartbeat. He had never loved anyone as much as he loved Iris and even though he hadn’t mustered up the courage to tell her in the time they’ve spent together, he wouldn’t trade any of it.

“Did they see our faces? They didn’t see our faces, did they?” he asked frantically as he gripped Iris’s hand tighter.

“Relax, Barry, you’re going to get us killed.”

The thought of anything happening to Iris sobers him up. No way in hell would he let anything touch her.

“Ok, so what do we do?” he asked looking around at the darkened woods.

Iris looked ahead. “There,” she pointed. “The carnival. We have to get to the carnival. I don’t think they saw us.”

She tugged him along as they raced toward the entrance. It seemed close yet so far as Barry pumped his legs faster and faster. He was worried about Iris being able to keep up and considered throwing her over his shoulder but was surprised to find that she was keeping up just fine. Perhaps it was the months of running that had built stamina, he thought grimly.

“I don’t know if we’re going to make it,” he huffed.

He distantly heard shouts from behind but didn’t dare look behind.

“The ticket booth. We can at least make it there.”

When they finally made it there, they hunched down low, trying to keep their heads below the window as they caught their breaths.

_They’re going to find us_, he thought in a panic.

Iris looked at him then and he could see it in her eyes that she had the same fear.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

“W-what?” he asked, eyes wide.

She started to take off her coat and then her blouse until she was just in a thin, lacy tank top.

“Wha-what are you doing, Iris?” he asked frantically.

“Take off your jacket and kiss me.”

“I don’t–” he spluttered.

With a huff, she reached over and tugged off his jacket and started unbuttoning his flannel shirt.

“We’re just two horndogs looking for a place to hook up.”

Her words barely registered as her warm hands made contact with his bare shoulders.

“Holy shit,” he whispered wanting to close his eyes and get lost in this strange dream. He was sure his brain short-circuited when she pulled him over her body and his bare chest made contact with the lace of her top.

She looked him square in the eyes, a fire burning in those deep, dark depths and he was lost. “Can you kiss me?”

Something in his brain seemed to function as he dove in and captured her lips. He wasn’t about to make her ask him again and as he tasted her lips for the first time, Barry forgot all about the men coming after them, forgot all about the danger their lives were in. Because in that moment, all he could feel was her. The warmth of her skin, the soft puffs of her breath in his mouth, her tongue sliding under his lips.

He let out a gasp and cradled her body against his own as though cocooning her and keeping her safe and sound in his embrace. He felt one of her hands getting lost in his hair, tugging while the other hand explored the expanse of the warm skin across his back.

He let out an involuntary groan as his hips pushed against hers.

“Shh-sh, Barry,” gasped in his ear.

That’s when a bright light flashed in their faces. Barry’s heart jumped in his throat as he gripped Iris tighter as his mind raced with an exit strategy. He would die before he let any harm come her way.

Barry looked up at the steel, cool eyes of Orlin Dwyer, one of Thawne’s loyal allies. His hands slid against the back of Iris’s jeans to the switchblade he knew she kept there. His hand bumped into hers as they both reached for it, but before either could pull it out, Dwyer spoke.

“You two see two females running this way? A tall one and a short one?”

Barry’s brows furrowed. Two females?

“Uh no,” Iris answered. “As you might have guessed, we were a little busy.”

Dwyer rolled his eyes and pulled the flashlight away. “Right,” he grumbled. “Horndogs.”

He muttered to himself as he walked away, looking around. Barry peered over the window of the ticket booth until Dwyer disappeared into the crowd before slumping back down, his shoulders drooping.

“Holy shit,” he whispered, rubbing his hair away from his forehead.

“Indeed,” Iris replied, leaning her shoulder against him.

They turned to look at each other for a long moment. Barry wanted to just take her in, already missing her skin, her taste. He didn’t know what to say though. Just as he opened his mouth to say god knows what, her voice broke the silence.

“Ok, you cannot kiss me like that again.”

His heart plummeted. “I-I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he stuttered, pulling away from her.

She leaned forward and tugged on him, bringing him flush against her again. “Hey, you have nothing to be sorry for. I just meant, if you’re going to kiss me like that again, it’s got to be behind closed doors because I don’t know what I might do.”

He looked into her dark eyes as his stomach flipped pleasantly, his heart racing all over again and his body warming. He nodded jerkily, feeling his own eyes grow heavy. “Ok,” he said huskily.

She nodded slowly. “Right, now let’s get out of here before we do get killed this time.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”


	2. Lost and Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of Part 1-this is where I leave it because I have no idea where I would take this story past this point. 
> 
> Dedicated to BarrysLightningRod, HartSense26809, and theroseiris for inspiring me to write a continuation.
> 
> This is messy af and I'm low-key cringing, but I had to get something out to sort of resolve the last part. Hope you guys like it anyway!

Growing up, Iris had grown accustomed to her younger brother giving her mini heart attacks. From the moment he began to walk, Wally had a penchant for creeping up on her sister and frightening her until she was sure her soul had left her body.

It seemed like the tradition continued even into adulthood because as Iris stood there, staring at her very much alive brother, she could have sworn her soul had actually left her body and she had drifted into some other plane of existence.

"Wally?" she had gasped.

He grimaced and smiled sheepishly. "Hey, Eyes," he said, referring to the nickname he had given to her as a baby when he couldn't say Iris.

Barry had stood, with just as wide eyes, flitting between Wally and then Iris. As far as he knew, Wally was dead. That was what had prompted Iris to even seek him out to begin with.

They would later find out that Wally was onto Eobard Thawne and had taken protective measures. So when he found that Thawne wanted Wally's invention, he staged his own death, knowing it wouldn't be long before there was a hit on him.

He explained that he had to keep his only family safe, his sister, his forever protector.

"My ass!" Iris shouted at him with watery eyes.

In the last few days since Wally revealed himself to be alive, Iris was filled with a myriad of conflicting emotions. But her relief and elation were more prominent as she reunited with her brother and they caught up on missed time. But Barry was still able to see the underlying hurt and anger that simmered beneath the surface. He had wanted to bring it up, but was afraid of triggering her.

But it seemed her brother was capable of doing just that all on his own. When he forbade her from going on a run for intel, she blew up. It didn't help that Wally had excluded just Iris, allowing Barry to come with.

"Do you have any idea what I've been through."

"I know," Wally said softly.

"NO! You don't! I have been crumbling on the inside, I've been trying to hold it together and--"she broke off as her voice cracked.

She turned away toward Barry. He wanted to reach over and pull her into his arms, to take away her pain. His own heart ached with the anguish on her face.

He had never once seen her cry. In the months since he had met her, he hadn't once seen her cry. Until now and it was a sight he hoped he wouldn't see again.

"Iris," he said softly.

She pressed her hand to her eyes and shook her head. "It's fine. There's no time to go over all of this again. I have to go make sure our tech is geared up."

Barry watched her walk away until she disappeared around the corner.

"Yeah, I figured it would take her time to get over that."

Barry looked over at Wally who slumped down into a chair. He could see the wariness on the young man's face. He was only twenty years old, not even old enough to drink legally, and somehow he was subjected to a life on the run because of his brilliance. He could see the weariness on his youthful face. 

"For what it's worth, she happy you're alive," Barry cracked.

"Yeah, so she can kill me herself," Wally smirked back. He turned back to look at Barry. "Hey, I never really thanked you. For looking out for her."

Barry shook his head. "You're sister is one hell of a woman. She's really the one who looked out for me."

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Plus, you there's not much meat to your bones."

"Hey! We're almost the exact build."

Wally scoffed before tilting his lips up. "Either way, I'm glad she found you. I can already see what you've become to her."

Barry's heart stuttered as he flushed. "What do you mean?"

Wally gave him a knowing look. "You know what I mean."

Barry could feel the heat travel to his neck as he awkwardly scratched the back of it. He was all too aware of his burning love and desire for Iris and it was uncomfortable as is to hide it from her (especially after that…that _kiss_), but he was not too fond of talking to her recently not-quite-dead brother.

"Um, yeah, um, uh…I'm just going to see if your sister needs some…help," stammered. Before he left, he turned back and looked at the young man with Iris's eyes. "Hey, I didn't get to tell you either, but I'm really glad you're alive."

Wally smiled and tipped his head to Barry.

It didn't take Barry long to find Iris in their makeshift base in an abandoned warehouse. She was fidgeting with their equipment, disassembling them and reassembling them in record time. He would never not watch in awe as Iris maneuvered her way around machinery that was twice her size.

"Hey," he said softly, leaning against the work table.

"Hi," she said back quietly. "I know why you're here."

"Oh yeah?"

She nodded, still not looking at him. "I've come to know your cues very well over the months."

"Yeah, I'm not going to even argue that," he said.

Her lips quirked at that and he was happy that he was able to pull a smile from her. She turned to look at him. "You know that's something I love most about you."

He froze for a moment, looking at her with careful eyes. "W-what…what's that? That I don’t' argue with you?"

He didn't have a single clue how he was able to breathe, let alone expel words from his mouth.

"No. Your unwavering faith in me." She set down the equipment she was holding and moved closer to him. "No one has ever believed in me the way you have. I never had to prove myself to you."

"Of course you don't. I may get overprotective sometimes, but I always know you're strong enough. I'm just happy to be here for you whenever you need me."

Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked up at him. "I know that. I never had any doubt about that."

He swallowed thickly, his heart pattering in his chest. After she first kissed him, their lives had been a whirlwind as Iris discovered the technology her brother was secretly working on and running from men who wanted to "question" her about her brother. They barely had a moment to shower, let alone talk about the implications of that kiss and what she said afterward.

At that point, it had become routine for Barry and Iris to share a motel room and knock out on the same bed with their clothes on just to get some rest, but never anything more.

But standing there in that moment, he wondered if he'd finally get the chance. The words were screaming inside of him and he didn't know if he could keep it in anymore.

"Iris…"

Before he could speak another word, she leaned up and kissed him. He gasped into her mouth but this time, didn't waste any time wrapping his arms around her.

_I love you, I love you, I love you._

It was as though the words were echoed in every heartbeat as he angled his jaw to catch as much of her lips and flavor as possible. God, it was just weeks since that moment outside the carnival, but it was too damn long. How he'd miss her softness and taste. How did he manage to exist without her softness?

He took in a sharp inhale, not wanting to part from her lips. He could feel her lips retreating and she chased after them until he felt them on his cheek bone.

"I love you, Barry."

He let out a soft sound as he gave into her lips that traveled to his eyes, kissing each of them before pulling back to look at him.

His eyes fluttered open to look at her beautiful, chocolate eyes. "I love you, Iris. So much."

She placed her hands on his cheeks, stroking his skin gently. "I know. It's why I felt safe even when we weren't."

This time he leaned down to kiss her. He wrapped his arms around her, feeling the contours of her body against his hands, itching to feel her skin against his own. Even if it was to simply feel her warmth against his fingertips, feel the heat that proved she was very much alive and with him.

But then again, her hands raking through his hair certainly helped him believe she was very much alive and with him.

"Hey guys! I decoded half the encryption--oh my bad…"

Barry whirled around, pulling away like she was on fire.

"Er, I was just--Iris, was putting stuff together and I was…helping…"

"Oh yeah? Couldn't tell by the way you had your tongue down her throat."

"Wally!" Iris exclaimed.

He held his hands up in surrender. "Just came here to share some good news, but I can see it can wait," he said before walking out.

Barry rubbed his face. "Er, that reminds me, what I came here to talk to you about--"

"Yeah, yeah I know. I was a little hard on him earlier. I have to talk to him."

He peeked at her through his fingers before pulling his hand away. "You really do know me."

She shrugged. "Like the back of my hand. But now I'm mad at him for other reasons."

Barry took her hands in his and nodded. "Me too."

But as they made their way back to Wally, Barry thought how he wouldn't trade any of it. Not the fear for his life, not the chases or gunfire because it all lead back to her. Iris.


End file.
